A new security vulnerability has been discovered: the clickety clack of the keyboard.

An audio recording of an individual’s typing can be transposed into a transcript of what was typed, according to researchers with the University of California, Berkeley. The technique works because each key makes a distinct sound when hit, and users, who typically type about 300 characters a minute, leave enough time between keystrokes for a computer to isolate the individual sounds.

The problem is that you’d have to get a large sampling of sounds before you could assign sounds to specific keys. Of course, this also assumes that each key really does have a different sound that isn’t influenced by speed or heaviness of typing. I know that my typing style varies wildly throughout the day. Sometimes I key harder, sometimes softer, and sometimes miss the correct keys altogether.

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All the angels must be snoring. Who could stand perfection for eternity?

Hmm…that would have a huge dependence on the individual keyboard and typer though, don’t you think? I mean, there may be different sounds of me typing, or of, say stephen typing. also, our keyboards are probably different. Like Charybdis says, you’d have to get a huge sample of the individual typing on their keyboard before it would even be useful.

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Also, I have to add, that I HATE HATE HATE the sound of “fake” typing, like in a commercial, or in a movie. When the people type it’s just so…annoying. I don’t mind listening to the people next to and around me type…it’s just the click click tap of fake typing that makes me crazy.